


Meant to Bead

by mermaidforeachother



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Adrien makes The Bracelet, Borderline crack, F/M, Fluff and Humor, Gen, Mild Angst, Oneshot, Plothole Fill, The beading fic you didnt know you needed, spoilers for Le Befana
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-01
Updated: 2017-12-01
Packaged: 2019-02-08 23:44:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,453
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12875601
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mermaidforeachother/pseuds/mermaidforeachother
Summary: Skill comes with practice.Adrien knew this already when he decided to make a birthday gift for Marinette, but, really, how hard could it be to make one lucky charm?





	Meant to Bead

**Author's Note:**

> Unedited, because editing is for people that post more than once a year.

Graced with a great idea and an overly-generous allowance, Adrien Agreste braved a crowded sale day and intimidatingly large walls of nothing but shining beads on strings in every shape and shimmer imaginable. Thankfully, they were organized by rainbow gradient, and he knew exactly what he wanted to make. Unfortunately, Adrien had exactly zero clue on how to go about that.

Before entering the craft store, he assumed it would be as easy as picking some pretty beads and a spool of string to thread them onto. He quickly discovered just how wrong he was after he found himself spending half an hour staring at all the different kinds of beads, debating on what colors and materials he should choose, and imagining all the different kinds of designs he could make.

Which is how he ended up back at home, face flat on his computer desk, surrounded by a near-random assortment of beading notions. Shimmering beads were spilled about, some still rolling from when he slammed his forehead against his desk in frustration only moments before. They were all perfectly pretty (he picked whatever he thought would look nice on his good friend, Marinette, which was admittedly probably too many), but he couldn’t seem to make them work well together. A book about bracelet making filled with deceptively simple instructions, complete with colored photographs showing each step in agonizingly hi-def detail, laid propped open up against his middle computer monitor, mockingly useless.

Reading the book’s instructions and following them seemed to be two entirely different things. The pile of failed bracelets and the mild headache growing behind his eyes were a testament to this, and the one person he knew he could ask for advice on this crafting dilemma was the one girl he absolutely could not call and ask. 

If he ruined Marinette’s surprise party by asking her for help to make her birthday present, he didn’t think Alya would ever forgive him.

Unused to parties of the birthday kind, Adrien opted out of most of the planning process, leaving it more to Alya and Nino to conspire with Madame and Monsieur Dupain-Cheng on the food, venue, and music. Instead, he happily volunteered to be part of the party setup and cleanup crew afterwards. 

Groaning, Adrien lifted his face from his desk to bitterly stare at the instruction pages. 

“I just want to give her something as special as the one she gave me, why is this so hard?” He tipped the book forwards, letting it flop down on the ugly trial-bracelets, and hide the shame of his failure, this sent loose baubles skittering down off the edge of his desk, clinking onto the floor and rolling off into the abyss.

Plagg flew out from his pocket, complaining,  
“When are you going to stop interrupting my naps with your feelings?”

“You just finished a nap not too long ago.”

“Adrien, don’t you know by now that us cats need just two things in life?” Plagg stated sanctimoniously, “Artisan cheeses, and twenty hours of sleep.” 

“And let me guess, you’re all out of the cheese?”

“Bingo, kid.”

“I’ll get you some more when i’m done with this.” said Adrien, morosely flicking a bit of string peeking out from the fail-pile. 

“ It needs to be perfect. Besides, you always make my room smell like feet.” 

“I resent that.” 

Plagg flew over to land on the edge of the loathed instruction book, batting absently at a tiny metallic bead, reflecting a spot of light back onto Adrien’s monitor.

“You know, one of my Chat Noirs in the past knew a lot about this jewelry business” Plagg said proudly.

Adrien perked up out of his seat and planted his hands on the desk, coming nose-to-nose with Plagg.

“Really?! That’s fantastic! Can you help me with this?”

“Of course, I can’t. He didn’t make the jewelry, he stole it.” said the Kwami, batting his chosen’s nose in admonishment. As if a god of misfortune and destruction would ever debase himself so low as to make jewelry for a teenage boy’s ridiculously obvious crush….without ample bribing.

Adrien reared back, staring dumbfoundedly. The miraculous weren’t ever meant to be used for evil, if a past Chat went rogue and began to steal from people, what would happen to him in the future? Did the Ladybug in the past have to fight against him?

Plagg zoomed up and landed in Adrien’s golden hair, tugging on a few strands to get his attention.

“Hey! I know that look and it’s nothing good.”

“It’s just..Chat Noir is supposed to be a hero, so why was that one stealing from people?”

The Kwami’s eyes widened comically. 

“That’s what was giving you that look? Haven’t you ever heard of Robin Hood, Adrien?”

“Certainly! This Chat Noir was like Robin Hood then? A hero against the oppressive ruling class, battling it out in the woods? That’s pretty cool sounding, actually.” Adrien went on, imagining the kinds of adventures a Chat Noir like that would get into, maybe alongside a beautifully spotted Maid Marian, sneaking into the woods to fight unscrupulous highwaymen and redistributing wealth to the overtaxed medieval peasants. 

Plagg chortled, wiggling his whiskers in pleasure. “Almost, but think again. He wasn’t like Robin Hood, he was Robin Hood himself.” 

“Wow.” 

Plagg twisted around, using the boy’s hair as a nest, and wiggled, snuggling down into it.

“Yeah, kid, us black cats are kind of a big deal.”

Adrien made a noncommittal sound and once again regarded the mess he’d been making of his room. He wished he had the confidence that his persnickety Kwami had, that pure surety that everything would be fine simply because he was saying and doing what he wanted. Well, here he was, doing what he wanted for a friend, and while he was sure Marinette would appreciate the charm he was trying to make, no matter how uncoordinated the design was or how uneven the beads ended up placed, he found himself floundering regardless. Unable to relax, and unsure of every move he was making in the unfamiliar world of beading, the only thing he could imagine is how much of a nightmare it would be if his gift was met with a lukewarm politeness.

Nothing about Marinette was ever lukewarm. She was bright and bubbly, unspeakably kind and thoughtful, with a fiery courage matched only by her sharp wit and her cute, embarrassed giggle whenever she gets too wound up and starts speaking backwards. He buried his face in his hands. How bad would he have to mess up for her to react like that? Pretty bad, his guess was. 

Adrien reached into his pocket and brought out the lucky charm bracelet that Marinette had given him. It was clearly made for the girl herself, with bright purple beads in the main body of it, and a cheery green pendant with a flower stamped on it as the focal point of the bracelet. It was fashionably chunky and unique, and matched absolutely nothing in his carefully monitored wardrobe of high-end brands. It was like nothing else he owned, but he loved it, and made sure to keep it on him at all times; the charm always reminding him of the girl that gave it to him.

Being in the public eye, he couldn’t risk wearing it outside of his house. If he was photographed wearing a bracelet obviously made for a girl, it was a one-stop trip to the celebrity rumor mill. The last thing he would ever need is reporters stalking his friends to find out who gave him the jewelry and if they were dating. Not that the press thinking he and Marinette were dating would be the worst story ever made up. With the recent run-ins with the press he and Ladybug have had however, he wouldn’t wish his friend to be put into the awkward position of fending off prying personal questions.

With one last, long look at the lucky bracelet in his hand, he wrapped it around his wrist and tied it off. He figured while he was inside working on the present, he needed all the luck he could get. 

It was time to start over.

\-----  
It was nearly an hour later when Adrien once again gave up with a loud groan of frustration. A slip of the hand, and the string he was working on dumped its pearlescent contents on the ground, scattering loudly in his cavernous bedroom, each plink and clank of metal and glass falling against hardwood personally mocking him. His hands were starting to become sore, used to sports and vaulting over Paris’ ancient rooftops, but not so much acclimated to the precise delicacy needed to thread beads over and over again when they kept falling off the string.

“Why does this have to be so hard?!” he glared at the now empty red string he had chosen.

 

“You’re overthinking it, Adrien.” Plagg piped up from the nest he’d made of the human’s hair a while ago. 

“I know that, Plagg.” Adrien said with a long dramatic groan. He’d been at this for hours, and didn’t seem any closer to making something that he liked enough to give as a gift than he was at the start.

“If you know that, then just stop thinking about it.” the little god advised. Honestly, these humans never change, always going in circles when they can just get straight to the problem and either eat it or kill it. 

“If it really is that simple Plagg, then what would you choose?” grumbled Adrien. The Kwami’s advice tended to be 50/50 on whether it was ever actually helpful. For some reason, his blase attitude on this topic was irritating him, all he wanted to do was make a good present for someone he really cared for. Was it too much to want actual advice on something he’d never done before?

Surprisingly, the cat god actually went quiet for a moment, before lazily flying out of Adrien’s hair. A little chill washed over him as Plagg left his hair, his vacated spot cooling on his head.

Plagg landed in a pile of assorted beads, moving some out of the way, and picking up others to examine them briefly until he found some invisible flaw and threw them over his tiny shoulder, tail lashing behind him in excited interest.

A minute or so went by with the same pattern of look, toss, look again, before Plagg let out a tiny mew of triumph.

“Use this one, Adrien, it looks tasty!” He held his prize up for his chosen to take.

Adrien didn’t know whether to laugh or cry at the small, golden chicken-shaped bead sitting unsuspectingly in his palm, as if an ancient animal god of bad luck did not just choose it for a higher purpose because it looks like dinner to him. 

“Plagg..” he began hesitantly, not wanting to offend his tiny friend who looked so proud to choose a bead that passed his very specific, if mysterious, scrutinizing. 

“This is a chicken…”

“It’s a rooster, Adrien.”

“Right, sorry, it’s a rooster, Plagg.” he says meaningfully, hoping the kwami would get the hint that it’s not quite what he was looking for.

“So, “ Plagg sits, looking at Adrien expectantly, “Are you going to use it?”

“I’m not sure, it’s just...I’m making a lucky charm bracelet, and I don’t know if Marinette even likes birds?”

Plagg looked at Adrien intently, and the boy realized with belated awe exactly what sort of creature he was living with and feeding disgustingly expensive cheese to, when the Kwami’s eyes lit up supernaturally bright and green, a hidden electricity in them coming to the forefront. Adrien felt glued to the spot, as Plagg looked partially through him, seeing something the human knew he’d never be able to parse out on his own. 

“I know my counterpart as well as I know myself.” His whiskers twitched, sensing something, “and that’s going to be one lucky rooster.”

Adrien looked on in utter bafflement. Well….far be it from him to deny genuine advice from a magical deity, even one that usually smells like gym socks. It couldn’t hurt to at least try to make a lucky bracelet with the rooster in it.

“You know, it’s funny, in Chinese, the word for rooster sounds the same as “luck.” When he thought of it like that, it actually seemed a fitting choice to use.

“No way, I would never have guessed.” Plagg deadpanned, and flew back into Adrien’s hair. “You’re welcome, kid. You owe me so much camembert now.” He’d helped with the kid’s oblivious feelings enough for at least two full wheels, in his opinion.

The blond shrugged sheepishly, “Thanks Plagg, I really appreciate the help. I’ll get you that cheese as soon as i’m done the bracelet.”

“Yeah, yeah.” The kwami waved it off as nothing, “Next time, just tell her you think she’s cute.”

“Plagg! She’s just a friend!” 

The black cat cheekily flicked his tail in front of Adrien’s eyes as a retort.

Well, whatever. He’s a cat. What does he know about cute girls and their subtle sprinkles of freckles, and endearing passion for justice, and-  
He cuts off that train of thought quickly. 

Looking at the purple-green bracelet currently on his wrist, he smiles softly, and then picks up the length of red string again. It was time to get down to business.

The next fifteen minutes, he spends sorting through the bead supplies for yellows and golds to match the lucky rooster. Finding a bell-shaped bead, he slides it onto the very end. It would make a good cover-up for the slipknot when the bracelet is tied.

Hm, wouldn’t an all-gold bracelet be a bit boring though? He sifts through some of the other beads set aside, trying to find ones that catch his eye. Instinctively, he is drawn to a gradient strand of blue cylinder-shaped beads. A couple of them looked just like Marinette’s eyes, a kind of unforgettable shade of sky-blue that anyone could get lost in, and a deeper blue that looked like her eyes in the cool, summer shade. 

He immediately reached for them.

Perfect. 

From his spot on Adrien’s head, Plagg could spot the boy stringing beads onto crimson thread with renewed vigor, choices coming easier under the influence of technically divine influence. When Adrien reached for a small handful of blue beads, he heard him mumble something about eyes….absolutely ridiculous….disgustingly sweet, even.

But then again, weren’t all of his black cats when they’re in love?

Oh well.

His whiskers twitched.  
She’s going to love it. He picked a lucky one, for sure.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Hopefully it made you laugh reading it as much as it did while I was writing it!
> 
> Extra comments or questions? I can be found on tumblr under thatwasyoursoupipoisoned <3


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